Human Target #2

Issue #2 of Human Target follows up on day 2 of Christopher Chance’s 12 days to live after being poisoned on the job of pretending to be Lex Luthor and taking an assassination attempt for him. We are introduced to former Justice League International member, Ice, who offers Chance help in ruling out members of the Justice League International as suspects.

Tom King does an excellent job sharing many stories within the issue. King goes in depth on Ice’s origin to past situations in the Justice League International bringing up questions on who may be behind the assassination attempt. King also doesn’t hesitate to set the tone between Christopher Chance and Ice as romance begins to brew. Each character is written with their own personality that shines throughout the issue. Chance pretends to play everything cool while Ice is innocent and tries to be caring. It becomes a duo that I am looking forward to see continue later on in this series. I also really enjoyed the speed and pacing that this issue read through. This issue took the time needed to plant more seeds of possible suspects, while still giving space for the relationship between Chance and Ice to develop.

Greg Smallwood’s art is amazing throughout the issue. I really enjoyed how soft the line work is while still telling a clear story. As loose as his line work gets, it amazes me how tangible facial expressions feel throughout the pages. Smallwood’s choice of vibrant, warm and neon colors is also very interesting. In a gloomy mystery, you would expect gloomy colors; however Smallwood steps outside the box and creates a colorful canvas of panels. It’s incredible how this risk plays off. It keeps everything feeling alive while still managing to keep the dark story’s undertone felt within the panels.